Crestview residents share their experiences after an apparent tornado ripped through town

CRESTVIEW — As family and friends cleared debris from her home on Friday, Lisa Willcut, a cafeteria worker at Crestview High School, thanked God that the damage to her house wasn't as bad as it could have been.

On Friday morning, the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama issued a tornado warning as a strong line of thunderstorms moved through Okaloosa County. Willcut, who lives on Eighth Avenue in Crestview, knew the storms were on their way and prepared the best she could Thursday night before bed — not knowing what would be coming in just a few short hours.

"I had my shoes and stuff by the bed," Willcut said. "I don't know, but about 10 minutes before it hit, I got up anyway, and I went ahead and got dressed, grabbed my purse and then I heard a limb fall on the back of the house."

Many people who have encountered a tornado say the noise outside their homes sounds like a freight train passing. Willcut described the experience a bit differently. Rather than a thunderous roar, it was more like a "wooshing" sound as the wind began to pick up speed outside.

Willcut spent the next few moments underneath her kitchen table as the apparent tornado passed her house.

"It was scary," she added.

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The daylight then revealed the damage to her home. The tree that fell on her house caused a leak in her bathroom, with no other damage reported by either her or those who came to help her.

A few miles south, at Brett Street and Hickory Avenue, Craig Ellsworth and his wife were awakened by a tornado warning alert on their phones about 4 a.m.

Because of Ellsworth's use of a hearing aid, he couldn't quite understand the noises outside his residence as he rode out the storm in his dining room. However, a neighbor told Ellsworth it sounded like a train was coming down the tracks.

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While he talked to a reporter Friday, community members were cleaning up debris from his lawn. Some of the individuals cleaning up his yard were the wife and children of Okaloosa County Commissioner Paul Mixon.

Mixon's home went unscathed by the severe weather. He and his family spent most of the day helping residents clean up.

"That is the community we live in, because that's the community generations have invested in," Mixon said via text. "For us to keep living in a community that loves and serves each other, it takes intentionality. I am grateful for Okaloosa County and the family atmosphere that we have."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Crestview residents share their experiences after an apparent tornado ripped through town